


Someone to Protect

by whynot



Series: Mason and Mae [16]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Minor Character Death, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 04:27:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11982120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whynot/pseuds/whynot
Summary: the headcanon that Red and Lily are Mason's sisters was suggested by easy-eight on tumblr when I was trying to think of siblings for Mason. I thought it was a great idea so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ here's this- Ellie





	Someone to Protect

**Author's Note:**

> the headcanon that Red and Lily are Mason's sisters was suggested by easy-eight on tumblr when I was trying to think of siblings for Mason. I thought it was a great idea so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ here's this
> 
> \- Ellie

 When Mae returned from her run, Mason was talking to Shorty with a pack over his shoulder and his sledge on his back.

“Mason?” Mae called, walking towards them. “Going somewhere?”

“Uh… the ‘Wealth,” he answered.

She blinked at him. “Okay… well, I’m obviously coming with you, then.” He shifted his weight. “Mason?”

“… Yeah. Yeah, okay. Got some things to talk about anyway. Go get what ya need, kitten.”

The solemness in his voice had her rushing, and when she returned to him he was still speaking with Shorty.

“I mean it, man, if I come back and even one thing’s outta place, I’m cagin’ you and feedin’ you to Scab as soon as he’s big enough to eat you. Not even Mae will be able to save you from me.”

“You sure about that?” Mae piped up.

“I got this, boss, don’t worry,” Shorty assured. “I’ve been your second for years, I think I’m capable of watchin’ over things for a few days.”

“We know,” Mae smiled. “We’ll see you later.”

“Right. Take care, princess.” He pecked a kiss on the top of her head, then hurried off when Mason shot him a glare.

 

They didn’t talk until they were seated across from each other inside the monorail, on their way to the Commonwealth.

“So, uh…” Mason started. “I got a letter from… from one of my sisters.”

Mae cocked her head. “Sisters. You told me—“

He put his hand up. “I know what I told ya. Left home young and fended for myself, but that was bullshit. I was just talkin’ a big game ‘cause we weren’t really… y’know, together or nothin’.”

“So, what, you thought you’d keep it a secret forever?”

“I was gonna tell ya, I promise. I was just waitin’ for the right time.”

“You mean you were going to tell if you ever _had_ to. So why do you have to now?”

He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. “Red and Lily run their own gang. Red sent me word that Lily’s been nabbed by one of their rivals - ‘Tower Tom’ the fucker calls himself. She asked for my help to get ‘er back.”

Mae felt the anger dissipate with a sigh, and she stood up to sit next to Mason. “You doin’ okay?”

“I’ll be a lot better once we get ‘er back.”

Mae watched him for a moment. “Do you wanna tell me the truth now?”

With a sigh of his own he turned to lay down, head in Mae’s lap. She raked her fingers through his hair. “Red’s four years older, Lily’s three years younger. Our folks were… just really shitty parents. I think they even forgot they had kids a couple times. So when I was… I dunno, 11 or 12, Red announced she was leavin’. I didn’t wanna lose ‘er, so I tagged along, and Lily tailed us. I’d like to tell ya that I was real brave about it, did fine. But that’s bullshit. I was…” He breathed out a laugh. “I was a snivelin’ little punk, whined for weeks. Red did all the work in getting us settled so we could survive. She found us a little cabin, went out huntin’ for food, stole supplies for us, all that shit. After a year or two we got real used to it, knew that life on our own was way better than what we had. We didn’t need no parents - we had each other. Though Red acted like a parent sometimes. Made sure we kept up ‘healthy habits’ and shit like that. Would smack us over the head if we didn’t brush our teeth or wash the dirt and blood outta our hair. Livin’ on our own toughened us up for sure, but Lily… I dunno. She always seemed… softer than us. Don’t get me wrong, she can snarl and scratch as vicious as anyone, but…” He shrugged. “... S’why I’m…”

“Worried?” Mae offered.

“Yeah.”

“Saying that you’re worried about your little sister won’t threaten your masculinity, y’know.”

“Alphas are supposed to be confident.”

“Told you before, when it’s just us, it’s just us. No alpha or Overboss. Just Mae and Mason. You can talk to me.”

“I know, kitten.” He paused. “Listen, Red is… well, she ain’t gonna welcome you with open arms. Don’t let it get to you.”

“I’ve dealt with you on your worst days, I think I can handle your sister.”

He huffed out a chuckle. “Yeah. Lily should be more accepting.” A long pause. “I think she’ll like you.”

Mae smiled down at him. “Can’t wait to meet them.”

 

* * *

 

Red was pacing around in front of the Stockpile entrance - she got the habit from Mason. She picked up a lot from him, despite her being older.

“Yo, Red,” Mason called. “We’re here.”

His sister stopped in her tracks with wide eyes before a scowl took over. “Told you not to call me that.”

“It’s your fuckin’ name, just accept that you’re named after a color and get over it.” He yanked her roughly into a brief hug.

“Who’s she?” Red asked harshly, gesturing to Mae. “I told you I want it to be just us. We don’t need anyone else.”

“This is my girl, Mae.”

“Your _girl_? You’ve got a girl now?”

“Nice to meet you,” Mae smiled, getting a dramatic noise of disgust in return.

“We don’t need her, Macy.”

His eyes fluttered closed when he heard a curious hum come from Mae.

“Macy,” she repeated. “That’s very interesting.”

“Told you not to call me that.”

“You call me Red, I call you Macy…” She stared at Mae for an uncomfortably long moment before sighing. “Fine. She can tag along, but she better not get in the way or slow us down. We leave immediately. The sooner we get Lily back, the better.”

Mason followed after her, and Mae stayed close by his side. “How come we never get word from you, huh?” Red questioned, looking at them over her shoulder.

“How come I don’t get word from _you?_ ” Mason shot back.

“We’re busy, we got a gang to run.”

“So do we.”

“‘We’. So Mae runs the Pack with you.”

“She’s the Overboss. She runs all the gangs.”

“Oh.” It blurted out of her, and Mason smiled. It wasn’t often he caught Red by surprise. “Well… she doesn’t look it. Should look the part.”

“I like the way she looks.”

“Well obviously, or you wouldn’t be fucking her.”

He resisted wincing. “It’s more than that.”

“Bullshit. It’s never more than that.”

“I love Mason and he loves me,” Mae said, with such strong conviction he couldn’t help but smile.

Red stared at her, expression hinting that she was caught off guard, then tsked and looked ahead.

 

Mae tried to chat Red up the entire way to the brewery, and Mason had to give her props for how she handled his sister. He could see at times that Mae was struggling to remain civil, but she managed. Red seemed to lose her spark when she realized Mae wasn’t going to snarl back, which took some time.

“So what’s the plan?” Red asked in front of the brewery’s entrance.

“What, you haven’t thought of one yourself?” Mason asked.

“Sure I did - guns blazing. But I thought I’d see if you had a better one.”

“Guns blazing sounds good. Let me take care of Tom. I got plans for ‘im.”

Red turned to Mae. “You got our backs, Overboss?”

She gave Red a smile. “Count on it. Let’s go.”

The little interaction didn’t have a hint of hostility, and the tension in Mason’s neck eased. He led the way inside, and the three of them went to work. Mason noticed right away how Mae kept an eye on Red, glancing at her whenever she could. He appreciated it, but at the same time he wished she would focus on keeping herself alive. Red could handle herself, she didn’t need to be babysat in a fight.

Tower Tom stayed in his office, a move that fucking _screamed_ ‘coward’. He was a big fucker, nearly as big as Mason, but he was sloppy. Mason had him pinned against the wall by his throat in seconds. “Where is she? Huh?” he growled out. He hadn’t seen her anywhere as he made his way through, and that had worry settling heavier in his gut. “Where’s my sister?”

“I—I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, man,” Tom responded.

“Lily! Where the fuck is Lily!”

“Oh shit…” How he whispered it, the way his eyes blew wide… that had Mason’s heart jumping into his throat. He planted a foot beside Tom’s and kicked against his knee in the opposite direction, breaking his leg.

“Where the fuck is she?!” He went for the other knee.

Tom crumpled to the floor, howling in pain. It only annoyed Mason, had him kicking the guy in the head hard enough to knock him out. He didn’t mean to do it, but he wasn’t upset in the least.

Mason turned around to see Mae reading the raider boss’s terminal, eyes unblinking. “What is it, kitten.” He started to walk towards her, but she lashed her hands out, gently pushing against his chest.

“No, no,” she told him softly, avoiding his eyes. “You don’t need to read it.”

He clenched his jaw, a sickening feeling swirling in his gut. “Let me see it.”

“Mason…”

“Let me see, kitten.” He gently shoved her aside and leaned down to scan over the entry. The edges of his mind scorched and tightened, and a blur rimmed his vision as his heartbeat echoed through his entire body like a jolt.

_While everyone was out, I stashed Lily's body in one of the vats. Think she even improved the flavor. That's one problem solved._

Mae said something to him, but it didn’t register. Heat spread through his chest, spiked up his neck and pressurized his head. His hands started to shake, and the groan that came from Tom kicked him into gear. “You stupid motherfucker,” he said as he strode towards him, and even his own voice sounded far away. “I’m gonna rip you the fuck apart, piece by fucking piece.” He knelt down and took Tom’s hand, grabbing two of his fingers and pulling until they dislocated. He soaked up Tom’s pained cry like a sponge absorbing water.

“Mason, wait,” Mae told him. “You need to listen to me.”

“Get outta here, kitten,” he told her, yanking off the fingers entirely.

“Mason—“

The gentle touch to his arm set him off, and he grabbed the front of her shirt. “I said get out!” He shoved her away and her back slammed into the wall. Her head whipped back, and the sickening sound of her skull cracking against the brick had his heart stuttering. Mae crumpled to the floor, and Mason scrambled to cradle her head.

“No, no, no, no,” he huffed in rapid fire. He bowed his head, and when he felt her breath gentle on his cheek he nearly passed out from relief. He dug into her pack to find one of the chems she had told him about and injected it into her neck. Her eyebrows twitched, but she remained unconscious. Mason gently gathered her in his arms and lifted her off of the dirty ground to lay her on the desk. A pathetic kind of weakness spread through him, made it hard to even raise his arms.

He told her he’d never hurt her, that she’d never have a reason to be afraid of him. Not much longer than a year later and he cracked her skull.

Tom’s rapid breathing broke through to him, and the anger rushed back. “This is your fault,” Mason muttered. “This is your fuckin’ fault.” He heard Red rush in.

“Mason, I don’t see any…” she trailed off, and Mason dreaded what he had to tell her.

 

* * *

 

A deep throb echoed in Mae’s head, but it wasn’t what woke her up. Cries of agony brought her back, and she lifted her head to see both Mason and Red taking Tom apart. His legs and arms looked like a super mutant’s gore bag, and it was a wonder that he was still alive.

“Stop,” Mae ordered, voice weak as she rolled off of the table, barely catching herself on her hands as she fell.

“You’re fuckin’ joking, right?” Red said harshly. “Do you know what this fucker did?”

“Torturing him won’t help. It won’t take away the pain, won’t make you feel any better, and it certainly won’t bring Lily back.”

“This is revenge, _Overboss_.”

“No, it’s not. Revenge is taking his life. Look, just…” She blinked hard, trying to get the dizziness to subside. What she wanted to say was probably going to be all over the place, but she needed to get it out. “Tom was a coward, hiding Lily the way he did, it’s disgusting and it’s pitiful. But killing her, that’s nothing different from what you guys do. Killing a rival gang member is part of the life style. You don’t think those guys have families? Friends? Looking at it from your view, you wouldn't think that you deserve to be tortured. No matter what you do to him, it won’t get rid of the pain. Killing him is enough. And torturing someone like this? That fucks you up, no matter how angry you are. An eye for an eye is good enough. A life for a life. He didn't torture Lily.”

Red held her gaze, and Mae saw a range of emotions in her eyes before anger dominated everything. “He deserved every bit of what he got,” she snarled, shoving at Mae’s shoulders. Mason started to reach for her, but Mae glanced at him as a silent order to keep back. “He killed our sister!” Red continued, giving her another push backward. “He stashed her body in a fucking vat! He took her from us!”

Mae hit the wall beside the door, and Red took her shirt in her fists. “I…” her voice caught, and her eyes darted wildly between Mae’s. “I couldn’t protect her. She was our sister, my responsibility, and I couldn’t keep her safe. I promised her, I promised that I’d look after her and it just ended up a fucking lie!” She slammed her fist on the wall beside Mae’s head. “What was the point of any of it if I just ended up failing her? She’s dead because of me. It’s all because of me.” 

Mae pulled her close, and Red fought back. “Let go of me!” she screeched. “Let go! Get the fuck off me!” Mae held tight, cradling Red’s head to her shoulder until she gave in with a sobbing inhale, her nails digging into Mae’s back.

“It’s not your fault,” Mae whispered. “I promise it’s not your fault.” She reached a hand out to Mason and gestured towards them. He shifted his weight, jaw clenching, then walked over to them. Mae pulled him down and he tucked his chin against her shoulder.

Mae didn’t know who crumbled first, but she fell with them, ending up on her knees with her arms around them both, shoulders burdened by the weight of their weary heads. Red growled out her sobs, sounded like a feral animal as she clawed into Mae's back, but Mason stayed quiet. The only sign that he was crying at all were the hot tears soaking through Mae’s shirt against her shoulder blade.

A strange feeling washed over her, a sense to protect the two siblings holding onto her like their lives depended on it. She barely noticed when Tom’s choked breathing finally stopped.

 

 

An hour passed before they fell quiet, and Mason rasped,  "Kitten... I didn't..."

"Didn't mean it," she finished. "I know. Don't worry."

Red stood suddenly, wiping her wrist under her nose. "I wanna leave."

"Course," Mae agreed.

"And I... I want you guys to to come with me somewhere. Both of you."

 

* * *

 

Mason took Mae's hand and helped her over roots hidden by overgrown weeds, already having memorized where each one was. He and his sisters had taken this path too many times to count. Snagged their feet just as often.

Red let out a shaky sigh, and Mason followed her gaze to the old cabin just ahead. She trudged forward, taking blind steps over roots and imbedded rocks like it was an old dance. Mae squeezed Mason's hand with a smile, and he let go of hers to follow his sister. 

The cabin was surprisingly untouched by looters, but about as dusty as expected. Staring at the table in the kitchen, Mason could almost see himself sitting with Lily as kids, Red bolting up from her own seat and yelling at them to eat the food she had caught instead of whine about it.

_"I don't like mole rat," Lily grumbles, poking at the food on her plate with a crooked-pronged fork. Only a couple of months into living on their own, she still wasn't used to it._

_"Yeah? You'll like starving to death even less," Red shoots back. "Now eat the damn rat."_

_"Can't you find rad stag or somethin'?" Mason asks, still too naive to understand all it took for Red to bring them back anything at all._

_"I can find a bat to hit you over the head with," she retorts. Mason knows she doesn't mean it. Red sighs and makes her way to one of the coolers, drawling in annoyance, "Kids."_

_Mason and Lily perk up a bit at the sight of three nuka colas being pulled out. At least they could chase the aftertaste away now._

Mason blinked when a gentle hand squeezed his shoulder, and he looked down at Red, his sister giving him a sad smile. She nodded towards the door, and Mason turned to see Mae lingering on the porch, kneading at her palm with her opposite hand. He learned long ago that it was a nervous habit. "C'mon in, kitten," he told her, and she hesitated before doing as he said. Mason took her hand again and led her to his old room. Passing the bathroom on their way, he could hear an argument that happened years ago.

_"Did you brush your teeth, Macy?"_

_"I ain't needa brush my teeth."_

_"You want them to fall out? Get in the damn bathroom and brush."_

_"You're not my ma, Red."_

_"No, I'm your older sister and a million times better at taking care of your sorry asses than both our folks combined. Now do what I goddamn say before I drag you in by your ear."_

His room was the same way he had left it. A bunk bed just for him - though the mattresses had been eaten away by age, a combat knife collection, the head of his first yao guai kill mounted above his tinkering desk, a food bowl for his old mutt. 

"Was 18 when I left," he told Mae, eyes still scanning the room. "Lily and Red bailed, too. But they stayed close to home while I left the 'Wealth." Mae soothed her hand over his bicep, and he let her other go so she could walk around. "Haven't been back till now."

"Why didn't you stay with them?" Mae asked, voice quiet.

"Well, the plan was for us all to split, control our own gangs, but we ended up wanting to leave before Lily was old enough. No one was gonna be led by a 15 year old girl with a fake flower pinned in 'er hair. So she went with Red. We kept in touch, I even visited them sometimes, up until I became Alpha. Then things just... got away from me, I guess." He crooked two fingers inward and Mae returned to his side to leave his room. 

He took her into Lily's, where Red was sitting on the bed. Hubflowers were still inside vases, dried and brittle, and collected stuffed animals still decorated shelves. Mason sat down next to Red, but Mae remained standing, awkwardly shifting her weight.

"Just get over here," Red ordered, patting the spot next to her. Mae did as she said and sat down. "You don't need to feel like you're trespassing or anything. You're family by extension. 'Sides, Lily woulda liked you. She wouldn't mind."

Mason smiled to himself. They were getting along better than he anticipated. "You should come back to Nuka World with us, Red," he told her. 

"I can't leave my crew."

"So take 'em with you. We got places outside the park that'll be great for your guys."

She shook her head. "No. We got a good setup here, I ain't leavin' just so some idiots can take over. But... Let's stay here for a few days. Clean things up. Make a little getaway place. It's always good to return to your roots once in a while."

Mason gave her a smile. "Yeah. Great idea."

Red nodded and took in a slow, deep breath through her nose, then leaned against Mae. She blinked at Mason in surprise before wrapping her arm around his sister.

"If you tell anyone you saw me cry, I'll kick your ass," Red mumbled.

Mae urged her closer. "I don't doubt it."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure how skilled I am at angst, so I hope this is okay. Let me know what you think!


End file.
